Sadly, no winter with little ones seems quite complete without at least one cough.

Coughs are exhausting, disrupt sleep and account for about 3% of all out-patient doctor visits. ”Consumers spend billions of dollars each year on OTC cough and cold medications despite little evidence that these drugs provide significant relief,” says Megan W. Manlove .

Recent studies show that common over-the-counter medicines worked little better than a placebo—and carried potential side effects.

Antibiotics are even worse. They kill bacteria (good and bad) but don’t help fight a cold. Using them unnecessarily has lead to the rapid rise of antibiotic resistance.

Enter grandma’s old remedies:

photo by Zsuzsanna Kilian

Honey Tea

Two teaspoons of honey mixed in a mug of heated water is a time-honored cough remedy. (It also helps soothe sore throats!)

The first time I tried honey for a cough, my daughter was about two. She coughed and coughed. Nothing I did seemed to help. She couldn’t sleep and, of course, neither could I. Then I decided to try honey tea that my sister had recommended.

It worked wonders!

She stopped coughing almost immediately and slept soundly the rest of the night.

Honey coats the lining of the throat as well as provides antimicrobial and antioxidant benefits.

Medical research backs up what our great-grandmas knew. Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine conducted studies that showed honey tea performing overwhelmingly better than cough medications or no treatment.

The only drawback is you cannot give honey to babies under 12 months because of the rist of infant botulism (a rare form of food poisoning.)

Eucalyptus Oil:

While honey lines the throat, Eucalyptus helps loosen phlegm. Rubbed into the chest, it helps soothe a cough.

First, apply a carrier oil, like olive or coconut oil. Then rub in a few drops of Eucalyptus essential oil. [Amazon has a large selection of oils or purchase at your local health food sore] The carrier oil helps spread it evenly and keeps the essential oil from stinging.

The eucalyptus helps loosen phlegm, so it sometimes causing a bit more coughing for a few minutes. After helping to clear the chest, the cough calms down.

Precautions: Do not take orally unless expressly told to do so by your health care professional. Eucalyptus oil is toxic. Don’t put it your child’s nostrils or near the mouth. Do not use on children under two.

Steam/Humidifier:

Cold viruses love dryness. Fight with humidity. Use a humidifier (just make sure you keep it clean!) If you don’t have a humidifier, stand in the bathroom while running a hot shower or boil water on the stove and let the steam escape into the room.

You can add a few drops of Eucalyptus oil for added benefit.

Of course, children shouldn’t get anywhere near the steam itself! Just let the steam fill the room.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a nurse. The only hospital I have ever worked in is a doll hospital. There, a band-aid can fix a heart attack. Please do your own research and check with your health care professional before treating a child.

Articles and scientific studies, for nerds like me:

MayoClinic: Honey an Effective Cough Remedy

Honey for Childhood Coughs: results of Penn State research 

University of Maryland: Overview of Eucalyptus

MayoClinic: Cold Remedies: What Works, What Doesn’t & What Can’t Hurt

These home remedies have worked for us. What works for you?

Laying awake in bed as the minutes tick past and turn to hours despite desperately trying to just fall asleep is agonizing and exhausting. No amount of coffee can make up for the utter sleepiness restless nights create. Unfortunately, sleepless nights aren’t limited to exam time or welcoming home a new baby.

Insomnia, or difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, is one of the most common health complaints and affects over one third of all adults at some point or another.

Widely different underlying causes all produce insomnia. Anxiety or excitement often causes difficulty in going to sleep. Depression has the opposite effect, tending to wake you up early in the morning, tired but unable to sleep. Of course, chronic pain makes sleep difficult and some people (like me) have always had difficulty getting to sleep.

Thankfully, there are many things that we can do to overcome insomnia.

Develop good sleep hygiene: Oftentimes the main culprit for insomnia is simply poor sleep habits. Although some circumstances make it impossible, for most of us, our sleep patterns are a choice.

• Get up earlier, consistently: the point is more sleep, but by consistently getting up earlier, you start to get your body into a rhythm and are actually able to fall asleep come bedtime.
• Spend time outside, in the morning: not only are the UV rays less damaging before the sun reaches it’s hottest, morning sunshine helps get your body into circadian rhythm and initiate sleep at night. On the other hand, if you’re waking up too early, try getting sunlight  later in the day.
• Exercise regularly: The benefits of exercise are abundant and one of them is  that exercise helps you rest better… just make sure it’s not too late in the day. Exercising close to bedtime can pump too much adrenaline into the body and make falling asleep more difficult.
• Get comfortable: A good pillow makes a big difference. In the winter, make sure you’re warm enough before heading to bed.
• Go to bed at a reasonable time: a good schedule makes getting to sleep much easier. Plus, if you wait ’til you’re “beyond tired” to get to bed it can be more difficult to initiate sleep.

If you have trouble getting to sleep, find a relaxation method that works for you.

• Read a book: If your mind begins to race the moment you hit the pillow, bring a (non-fiction) book to bed. Not only does it whittle down the “must-read” pile, but keeps your mind from replaying the events of the day for the fiftieth time.
• Listen to music or a story from Librivox: Like reading, it relaxes the mind, but you get to have your eyes closed. Just make sure the story isn’t overly intriguing. A boring station on the radio works wonders too!
• Meditate on a passage of Scripture or poem you’ve memorized.
• Breath deeply: deep, cleansing breaths help calm the body.
• Relax your body systematically: start with your face and methodically work down to your toes to release the tension that builds throughout the day. Relax your eye brows and sink your fingers into the pillow. My midwife coached me in this during my long labors but it works wonderfully for inducing sleep too!
• Keep paper and pen by the bed: That way if a nagging thought or great idea comes to mind you can write it down and deal with it in the morning.

Certain foods and herbs can improve sleep.

• Eat light at night: While we sleep our digestive system is hard at work, so lighter evening meals make the body’s job easier and produce more restful sleep. Avoid food right before heading to bed.

• Foods high in calcium, carbohydrates or tryptophan (a sleep-inducing amino acid) like dairy, whole grains and nuts make especially good dinner and evening snack choices.
• Aromatherapy: the scents of lavender, chamomile or ylang ylang supposedly induce sleep, quickly.
• Valerian, a hardy perennial herb, works as a natural sedative. When all other methods failed for me, Valerian has worked. Unlike Unisom (my previous measure-of-last-resort), it does not make me feel jittery. Just calm. Even if circumstances out of my control, like a sick baby, keep me from getting a full night’s sleep, I still wake up feeling calm and rested. Deemed a safe, non-toxic herb, there are still a few possible side effects, and should be used in moderation.

Do you ever struggle with insomnia? What do you do to overcome it?

photo credit here